They Told Us To Just Quit!

About this video

The speaker describes grueling water survival training from a military course called “MacWade,” which involved swimming 3600 meters in full gear while progressively removing equipment. He recounts instructors using psychological tactics, including spelling out “quit” with rubber rifles in the deep end, to encourage students to give up. The experience was so intense that he still has flashbacks whenever he trains in the rain.

Key takeaways

• The speaker recalls swimming 3600 meters in stages during water survival training, starting with full gear including a rifle and progressively removing equipment every 600 meters until only wearing shorts
• The speaker describes instructors spelling out the word “quit” with rubber rifles in the deep end as a psychological tactic to encourage students to give up
• The speaker reports that the training was so intense he still experiences flashbacks when training in the rain

Episode details: published August 9, 2026 · 17.5K views · 1:04 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Stories told by Mike Ritland’s podcast guests are the guests’ own accounts, attributed to them — not independently verified. Commentary is Ritland’s, presented as his analysis.

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